Red Tag
by guilty angelic
Summary: Lily is an outsider at Hogwarts, along with the four other Muggle-borns in her year. Things change, however, when she offends James Potter, the leader of the most popular guys in school, the Marauders. JL, lovehate. Slight AU.
1. In Which Lily is Tagged

**Red Tag**

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A/N: Woo! J/L love/hate! How original can you get? This story is based off of Hana Yori Dango, for those of you who know what that is. For those of you who don't, watch more anime. ;-P

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or situations of Harry Potter. Nor do I own the situations of Hana Yori Dango. These belong to JK Rowling and Yoko Kamio, respectively. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters.

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Chapter One: In Which Lily is Tagged

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            Lily glanced at the passers-by, feeling awkward and out-of-place. Her best friend, Kelly Garcia, chattered excitedly beside her as they walked down the hall to Transfiguration.

            "…Don't you think so, Lily?" Kelly was saying. Lily made a sound of agreement (if you could call it that) and then continued to tune Kelly out, thinking.

            It had been five years since she had started attending this school, and she still felt distant from the rest of the students, besides Kelly, of course. Her face darkened, unnoticed by the chipper brunette beside her. She and Kelly were a minority in the school, two of five Muggle-borns in their unusually large year of 60 students. Being such, they were often disregarded by the other pureblooded students, and thus had made a tight bond with the other three.

            "Hey, Lils, Lollie!" Lily grinned as she looked up. Kevin Garcia, one of the five Muggle-borns and Kelly's twin brother, had come up behind them, grinning like the maniac he was. Kelly made a face at the nickname, cuffing Kevin upside the head.

            "What was that for?" Kevin asked, pouting.

            "Your tie isn't straight, nitwit," Kelly said, fixing Kevin's blue-and-bronze tie. "And how many times have I told you not to call me Lollie?"

            "Uh… 27,562?"

            "27,563," Kelly corrected, sniffing dismissively. Lily chuckled, before waving to the other two of their minority, Kezia Liu and Daniel Zhang. Both were oriental, which made them even more of a minority.

            "Hola," Daniel said in his quiet way, grinning.

            "Hi," Kezia chimed, frowning at Kelly as the brunette towered over her. The other three greeted them, and then the group made their way to the stairways, from where they would proceed to Transfiguration. Or they would have done, had Kezia not had another one of her klutz attacks and tripped on the stairs, falling… right… into… James… Potter.

            There was a collective gasp as all activity in the stairway chamber stopped.

            Kezia immediately jumped up, looking for all the world like a deer in headlights. Potter got up as well, glaring at the small Asian girl.

            "What," he asked, barely concealed rage making his voice shake, "did you think you were doing?"

            "I-I'm sorry, I—"

            "Did you think it would be funny?"

            "No, sir, I—"

            "Are you mentally challenged, or something?"

            "No, sir—"

            "Get out of the way, Mudblood," Potter hissed. The five Muggle-borns flinched at the word he used— well, make that four. Any normal person would be sensible enough to just move aside, to let James Potter and his group of three friends, the Marauders, pass through.

            God damn the stereotypical redhead temper.

            "Take. That. Back," Lily growled, gliding to the front of the group, metaphorically a furious queen, causing Kezia to back up and Potter to stare at her incredulously.

            "_What_ did you say?" Potter said, taking a step towards Lily menacingly.

            "You heard me," Lily replied. "I said, take it back."

            "Who's gonna make me?" Potter sneered. "A mudblood like you?" Emerald eyes met blue, and an unseen jolt of angry energy passed between them.

            "You asked for it," Lily said. In a moment, Potter was holding his nose, trying not to show any other signs of pain, and Lily's hand was balled into a fist, bloodied from the injury she caused James' nose. She turned to the other four. "Come on, you guys, let's get out of here."

~*~

            Detention. It wasn't even her fault! Okay, maybe it was… a little! Besides, she was a prefect, and prefects did not get detention. It just wasn't done! Lily was currently storming back to the Gryffindor common room, where Kelly and Kevin awaited her.

            Lily looked at them strangely, confused by the expressions of clear apprehension on their faces. "What's wrong?" she asked. The twins exchanged a glance.

            "There's been some talk, Lils…" Kevin trailed off, looking torn.

            "They say that the Marauders are going to tag you," Kelly finished, glancing around at the other people in the common room, as if they were all about to jump her.

            Lily paled, in spite of trying to look unworried. Of all of the bad things that could happen to you at Hogwarts, the tag was the worst. As the Marauders were the most popular and rich boys in school, they could get the school as a whole to do whatever they wanted them to do. A red tag gave the school a license to haze. A red tag meant that her own classmates would soon drive Lily out of Hogwarts. A red tag meant everyone would hate her. Lily took a deep breath and forced a smile. It looked more like a grimace.

            "Let them," she said. Kelly and Kevin exchanged a look that clearly said, "Lily Evans has gone mad. Let's just humor her, shall we?" Suddenly their faces donned a look of shock, and then of fear as they looked over Lily's shoulder.

            "Well, well, well," Potter drawled. Lily spun around, furious. "What have we here?"

            "Get your ugly mug out of my face, Potter," Lily snapped.

            "Ouch, I'm hurt! But seriously, Evans," Potter said mockingly, "I'd watch my back, if I were you. You never know when you'll get hurt." He walked off, laughing, followed closely by his best friend, Sirius Black, and his faithful follower Peter Pettigrew. Remus Lupin trailed behind, sending Lily what could have been an apologetic look, had he not been part of the Marauders in the first place.

            "Bastards," Lily muttered.

~*~

            No one sat with her at breakfast the next morning. Lily had warned Kelly and Kevin to stay away from her. It was just as well, because as soon as Potter entered the Great Hall, he strolled over to her and slapped a blood-red strip of cloth on the back of her chair.

            There was silence.

            Lily delicately raised an eyebrow at Potter, who was standing beside her expectantly, possibly waiting for her to burst into tears. Lily shrugged, turned away from him and continued eating.

            Now there were whispers. Apparently, Lily Evans didn't care that she was now the main target of pranks, slander, and hazing in the entire school.

            Potter frowned, obviously trying not to show his disappointment of the lack of consequence this situation had on the Target.

            "You're as good as dead, Evans," Potter sneered, before walking over to the opposite end of the table, where sat the other Marauders.

            As soon as he left, Lily felt a slimy substance smack her in the back of her head: scrambled eggs, catapulted across the hall while the teachers weren't looking. Lily rolled her eyes at this blatant act of immaturity. Calmly, she removed the scrambled eggs from of her auburn hair, ignoring giggles from those in the immediate vicinity. _How juvenile_, she thought, continuing with her daily routine as though nothing had happened.

            Breakfast passed without further incident, but as soon as she left the Great Hall, she was surrounded by a group of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff girls, lead by the illustrious Emma Deschênes of the fifth year Gryffindors, Lily's year.

            "Evans."

            "Deschênes. Figg, Remington, Lucas, Thomas, Simmons, Jenkins, Bennet," Lily acknowledged impassively.

            "Come on, Emma, Abby, we're going to be late to Charms," Charlotte Remington whispered to Deschênes and Arabella Figg. All three were Gryffindors, though you wouldn't have guessed Remington was one, judging by her avoidance of confrontation rather than the acceptance of it that was typical for a Gryffindor.

            "We'll make it on time, Charlotte, but I'm not so sure about Evans, here," Deschênes said, giving Remington a fake smile. Remington cringed and backed away slightly, to the back of the group. "Now, Evans, I believe you did something to offend my dear Jamesie, yesterday?" Lily snorted.

            "Jamesie? If you mean Potter, he got what was coming to him." Deschênes slapped her. Lily glared, touching her cheek with her hand, trying and succeeding not to flinch at the pain. "Bitch," Lily growled, attempting to walk away. The girls suddenly attacked her, pain exploding in her mind as she was punched, slapped, and kicked. She tripped and fell to the floor, crying out as her wrist snapped under her. Her robes were torn as the girls grabbed at them, her nose bloodied and her face scratched. She was kicked in the stomach several time and heard several cracking noises as her ribs fractured. She curled into a fetal position as the beating continued, enduring the rain of fists and school-issued loafers. After what seemed like an eternity, they stopped.

            "That should teach her a lesson, for now," Deschênes' laughing voice said. "Let's go, girls, or we'll be late for class."

            Lily was left alone on the floor, trying to hold back tears and willing herself to move, but to no avail.

            A cool hand rested on her forehead. Lily whimpered as it touched a sluggishly bleeding cut received when on of the girls (she thought it was Simmons) scratched her face.

            "Shhh, Evans, it'll be all right. Can you stand?" Lily looked up into concerned blue eyes. Remington.

            "What do you care?" Lily croaked. Remington's expression turned from concern to hurt.

            "Of course I care," Remington said quietly. "You're part of my own house!"

            "So if it was Kezia lying here on the floor, you wouldn't give a shit?"

            "I never said that—"

            "No, but you implied it."

            "But I didn't mean it that way. If they deserved it, like Snape or Malfoy, then I'd just let the others do what they wanted. But people like you and Liu? No."

            "That's not very Gryffindorish, if you ask me." Remington recoiled. Neither spoke for a moment, and then Remington nodded.

            "I know," she admitted. "I'm not very Gryffindorish at all. I'm only in Gryffindor because I asked to be, because Abby was Sorted into Gryffindor. We've been friends since we were very young, and she was the only person I knew here, since my parents moved here from France."

            "Abby?"

            "That's what I've called her since we were babies, because I couldn't say Arabella. The name just stuck," Remington said, smiling at the memory. Her mood abruptly changed when she remembered that Lily was injured. "Oh my God, what are we talking about this for? I need to get you to the Hospital Wing! Here let me help you up. Tell me if it hurts too much, okay?" Remington reached down and looped her arm under Lily's, slinging the other arm over her shoulder. They rose slowly, Lily wincing as her ribs gave a twinge of pain.

            "I feel ill," Lily mumbled as her stomach roiled.

            "A concussion, maybe, or a fractured collar bone. I've heard those can make you nauseous," Remington said. They began to hobble through the castle in the direction of the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey took one look at Lily and nearly had a coronary.

            Pomfrey fussed over Lily, setting up a bed for her, while Remington hovered nearby, startled.

            "Is she all right?" Remington murmured to Lily, staring at the school nurse as if she had two heads.

            "Oh, yes, this is normal," Lily said. Remington gave her a questioning look. "Kezia can be a klutz sometimes, and contrary to popular belief, she is not indestructible." Remington nodded, still unconvinced.

            "Here you are, Miss Evans," Madam Pomfrey said, hurrying Lily to the bed. She then turned to Remington. "Out with you, Miss Remington, my patient needs bed rest!" Remington nodded meekly as Madam Pomfrey went into her office.

            "'Bye, Evans," Remington said.

            "Lily," she responded automatically.

            "Then call me Charlotte." The girls smiled at each other, and Charlotte left the room.

~*~*~*~

A/N: What do you think? Let me know!


	2. In Which James has a New Nickname

Red Tag 

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A/N: Didn't expect a response that fast… ^^* Well, I'm quite happy with how this chapter turned out… I tried to be a bit more original and creative with the major events to be happening in the school year. Tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling is God. ^_^ All unrecognizable characters belong to me. 

~*~*~*~

Chapter Two: In Which James has a New Nickname

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            Lily sat at the back of the room, half-listening to the Head Boy, Amos Diggory, give a soliloquy on the lack of quills and parchment available in the castle._ What I wouldn't give for a piece of parchment right now… I need _something_ to throw at Diggory's swelled head, after all!_ she thought venomously. She gave a nearly-audible sigh of relief when the Head Girl, a Gryffindor named Felicienne Watson, interrupted him and changed the topic to a much more interesting one, regarding the dress code policy and its lack of followers.

            _There seems to be a lot of things _lacking_ in this castle recently_, Lily mused, fiddling with her magical ball-point pen, _as that is all we seem to be talking about in these stupid prefect meetings. Meanwhile, I have to spend an hour in the same room as That Prat._ She shot "That Prat" a glare out of the corner of her eye. How That Prat ever got to be a prefect, Lily would never know. In fact, at that very moment, he was folding a piece of parchment into a very elaborate origami broomstick, and was most likely contemplating on how he would make it fly. _Mind you, it's not as if you're paying much more attention_, she thought, and then quickly berated herself for even daring to mentally lower herself to That Prat's level.

            "So it's settled, then," Felicienne was saying, a beaming smile fixed on her face. Lily forced herself to pay attention. "We'll draw names from a hat, and whoever's names are chosen will be in charge of the New Year's event!" Lily's mind drew a blank. What were they talking about? What New Year's event? 

            With a wave of her wand, Felicienne conjured up a hat, which held multiple slips of white parchment— twenty-four slips, one for each prefect from each house for each year after fifth. The prefects were silent as Felicienne drew out a slip of parchment and unfolded it.

            "First on the committee," Felicienne said, pausing for effect, "is James Potter of Gryffindor!" There was a round of cheering, mostly from the girls. Lily noticed that they all looked especially keen to be chosen now that That Prat was on the committee. Lily rolled her eyes.

            "Next," Felicienne read out, blinking in surprise, "is me!" She shook her head, amazed by the sheer dumb-luck, and drew another name. "Cosima Starr, Ravenclaw!" There were squeals of envy as Cosima dimpled sweetly. "Justin Cruz, Gryffindor!" Justin, a prefect only a year older then Lily, exchanged a high-five with That Prat. Kelly had a crush on him, Lily knew, but then again, Kelly had a crush on everyone. Felicienne drew the last name and smiled, looking around the room.

            "Last on the committee, Lily Evans, Gryffindor." As when Cosima's name was read, there were squeals, but these were squeals of outrage and astonishment.

            "_Her_!"

            "Evans?"

            "Didn't she get Tagged yesterday?"

            "Yeah, she's the Marauders' current Target!"

            "Now, now, simmer!" Felicienne said, bringing the gossip at bay. "Uh, this meeting is adjourned, the next one TBA! Bye, now!" Lily, however, did not feel like being adjourned. Lily was furious, and showed this by stomping to the front of the room while everyone else was busy packing up to get out and tell their friends the juiciest piece of new gossip.

            "Feli!" she hissed, slamming her palms down on the desk where Felicienne was putting away her books. Felicienne gave Lily what was supposed to be a winning smile, but turned out to be more of a grimace.

            "Hi, Lily!" she chirped.

            "Don't you 'hi Lily' me, Felicienne Crescentia Watson!" Lily said. "I have the sneaking suspicion that you set that up!"

            "Lily, how— and why— would I ever do something like that?" Felicienne said. Lily had met Feli Watson in her first year at Hogwarts, Feli's third. They had become fast friends, Feli being somewhat like a sister to Lily. Since Lily knew Feli quite well, she did not fall for the older girl's innocent act.

            "Don't ask _me_ why, you're the criminal mastermind around here!" Lily raged in a whisper, trying not to capture the attention of the gossip-hungry Hufflepuffs as they passed by. "And as to how you did it… hello? You're the Head Girl! You're the best witch Hogwarts currently has to offer!"

            "Why thank you for the compliment, Lily! But I really must be going now, I have a whole bunch of homework in— um, Charms!" Feli excused herself before fleeing the room. Lily stomped after her.

            "Professor Flitwick didn't give anyone homework today!" she called after Feli, who seemed not to have heard.

~*~

            Kelly and Kevin exchanged looks as Lily ranted. Neither was really paying her much attention, as trying to decipher her insane ramblings would give them a headache the size of Antarctica. They were instead intent on reading each other's mind, which was not that difficult as their twin-ny state of being already gave them an advantage.

            "—And then she had the nerve to say that she had Charms homework when I know perfectly well that Professor Flit— you're not listening to me!"

            "Duh," the twins chorused, not looking away from each other. It was decidedly freaky, in Lily's opinion.

            "You guys are really scary sometimes, you know that?"

            "Sure, Lily."

            "Again with the simultaneous responses!"

            "Shut up, Lily."

            "Hello? Does the gravity of this situation not _reach_ you? As of tonight at seven, I will be forced to remain in the same room as That Prat for an indefinite amount of time!"

            "Only until you can agree on something," Kelly said, finally speaking by herself.

            "But then we have to plan it all out and all come out satisfied. Not very likely to happen, or haven't you noticed, we can't agree on _anything_?"

            "You agree that you hate each other," said Charlotte, making Lily jump.

            "Don't do that!" Lily squeaked. Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

            "Do… what?"

            "Sneak up behind me!"

            "Ah. Sorry. Well?"

            "Well what?"

            "Well, don't you agree with me that you and James agree that you hate each other?" Charlotte asked, plopping down onto the couch opposite Lily. Lily paused, staring at Charlotte like the other girl had grown an extra head. Then, she narrowed her eyes and leaned back into the couch, folding her arms and pouting like a three-year-old deprived of her favorite toy.

            "Shut up."

            Charlotte gave a triumphant smile and exchanged high fives with Kelly and Kevin.

~*~

            Seven o'clock came all-too-quickly. Lily met Cosima in the halls on the way to the meeting.

            "Hi Cosima!" Lily chirped. Cosima had always been a friendly acquaintance to Lily. They had been partners for a Charms project once and gotten full credit.

            Cosima didn't speak to Lily, but sent her an apologetic glance.

            Lily slowed and stared for a second, hurt. Then she snapped herself out of it. Of course, Cosima would ignore Lily— Cosima Starr was one of the most popular people in Hogwarts, a pureblood heiress. She had a reputation to keep up, a reputation that would suffer if she acknowledged Lily's existence.

            Lily was starting to get really annoyed by this whole Tagging business. Just as she was pondering this, a hand grabbed her shoulder and pushed her aside.

            "Oops, sorry Evans, didn't see you there!" That Prat gave her an evil smirk and jogged up beside Cosima, placing his arm around her waist as he talked with her.

            _Lecherous asshole,_ Lily thought venomously.

            The five students on the committee met in the Prefects' Office, a cozy room off the Transfiguration corridor. They seated themselves around the room: That Prat immediately collapsed into the choice spot (a pile of extremely comfortable pillows) Cosima daintily perched on an armchair nearby, Justin slumped over a chair that he had turned around backwards, Feli stood confidently within speaking distance of all of them, and Lily leaned against a wall as far away from That Prat as she possibly could while still being able to hear the goings-on.

            "Well," Feli said, as soon as all were settled, "I assume you all know why we're here, but I'm still going to repeat it. We're hear to discuss the school-wide event that will be held on New Year's Eve, until at least midnight."

            "Nothing for Christmas?" asked Cosima, slightly surprised.

            "Nah, the Christmas event was getting old. We've done it every year, at least since I started my first year. We need something new, something fresh… any ideas?"

            "Ooh! A talent show!" Cosima cried at once. It was a well-known fact that Cosima had one of the best singing voices in school. "We could award the winner at midnight!"

            "No way!" Justin said, rolling his eyes. "A feast with a party! Old-school and somewhat Muggle-ish, but very happening."

            "Uh-uh! Talent show!" Cosima argued, standing up and pouting angrily.

            "Party!"

            "Talent show!"

            "Party!"

            "Talen—"

            "Carnival," said That Prat, interrupting the argument. "A carnival with caramel apples, and those games like they have at those Muggle amuso-thingies ("Amusement parks," Feli offered), and that big circle-thing that spins around slowly so that you can see everything from the top— a Fairy Wheel?"

            "That's a Ferris Wheel, James," Feli supplied again. "I think we should have a masquerade ball, and have everyone unmask at midnight…" At this point the four erupted into a chaotic argument, each trying to get their points across and to make the others choose their idea. Lily stood off to the side, annoyed at her fellow committee members' unwavering stubbornness.

            Suddenly, an idea sparked in her mind. An idea that could possibly appease everyone and let her have a good time even if she was still Tagged by New Year's. A smile broke out on her face, as suddenly as the idea sparked in her mind.

            The smile did not go unnoticed.

            "What's on your mind, Lily?" Feli asked. The argument stopped short, the room silent. Lily swallowed and began to speak.

            "How about we combine them all together?" The others gave her looks that ranged from surprised to dubious. "No, listen! Everyone is in costume the entire day, no one knows who is who. We have breakfast and the talent show in the morning, and the winner of the talent show is chosen by number, to be announced after midnight. After the talent show, we have the carnival, which will go until dinner, when we have the feast and party, which can be combined with the ball. At midnight, everyone unmasks, and you know who you've been talking with and enjoying yourself with for the entire day. In effect, you meet and get to know new people!"

There was silence, which seemed to be occurring a lot where Lily was concerned.

            "I hate to admit it, Evans," That Prat said, after a few seconds, "but that is a great idea."

~*~*~*~

Reviewers' Corner:

Fieryangel: That's sort of the point… it's based on HYD and it's live-action counterpart, Meteor Garden.

firered: That's a bad thing? ^_~

f4luvers: No, I haven't actually seen HYD or MG… that's why this story is only based on it, as opposed to following it exactly… I wish I could see it, though, and if I win this one contest I'm entering and get the money, I'm going to buy the whole HYD series. ^_^

leapinglizards83: Thank you! Though it's not really original, especially if you've seen HYD. And thanks for putting my on your favorites. ^^ I'm flattered!

JamesStinks: Sorry, James probably won't stay that way for the entire series… but keep reading won't you? ;_; Don't worry, sooner or later most of the evil bitches will come to their senses. Except for Deschênes, of course, because Lily needs an adversary.

Demoness Mark: Yay! Another one who put me on their favorites! ^o^ Don't worry, the Marauders will be punished. ::evil grin::

KawaiinessPnay: ^___^ Anata wa genki desu! Doomo!

BipolarGirl: Thanks, love your name, by the way, it reminds me of my friend Chelsea. ^_^

Maj: ^_^ Glad you think so. Girl's gotta stand up for herself, you know!

no a member: Well, sign up to be a member, then! ;-P Thanks much for the review! :-D

Jazlyn: Yes ma'am! I'll do my best!

aneri: They're just unobservent, aren't they? ^o^


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